Tiny Wonder
by Teresa Zieba
Title
Tiny Wonder
Artist
Teresa Zieba
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Anna�s Hummingbirds are among the most common hummingbirds along the Pacific Coast, yet they're anything but common in appearance. With their iridescent emerald feathers and sparkling rose-pink throats, they are more like flying jewelry than birds. Though no larger than a ping-pong ball and no heavier than a nickel, Anna�s Hummingbirds make a strong impression. In their thrilling courtship displays, males climb up to 130 feet into the air and then swoop to the ground with a curious burst of noise that they produce through their tail feathers.
Hummingbirds are New World birds that constitute the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5�13 cm (3�5 in) range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm bee hummingbird weighing less than a U.S. penny (2.5 g).
They are known as hummingbirds because of the humming sound created by their beating wings which flap at high frequencies audible to humans. They hover in mid-air at rapid wing-flapping rates, typically around 50 times per second, allowing them also to fly at speeds exceeding 15 m/s (54 km/h; 34 mph) backwards.
Hummingbirds have the highest metabolism of any homeothermic animal. To conserve energy when food is scarce, and nightly when not foraging, they go into torpor, a state similar to hibernation, slowing metabolic rate to 1/15th of its normal rate.
Photographed in Sun City, Arizona, USA
Uploaded
May 30th, 2016
Embed
Share
Comments (60)
Don Columbus
Congratulations Teresa, your work is Featured in "A Birding Group - Wings"! I invite you to place it in the group's "2017 Featured Image Archive" Discussion!! L/Tweet
Teresa Zieba
I'm delighted to have this image featured in "Photography And Textures Make Fine Art" group. Thank you kindly Darren.
Diane Schuster
I have these beautiful hummers at my house and I never tire of watching them. Great image and info! l/f